Olympic pole vault champion Armand Duplantis defeated 400-meter hurdler Karsten Warholm in a 100-meter exhibition race in Zurich.

After starting as the leader, the Swede Duplantis achieved a time of 10.37 seconds and was able to give his friend a brilliant performance when he crossed the finish line.

Norwegian Warholm finished with a time of 10.47 seconds, with both athletes achieving personal bests.

The pair competed at the Letzigrund Stadium, where both will compete in their usual competitions at the Diamond League meeting on Thursday.

“I’m pretty excited,” said 24-year-old Duplantis after his victory.

“How could I not be? I mean, come on, stop playing with me.”

Both athletes entered the track in boxing uniforms, Duplantis in blue and Warholm in red.

After his victory, Duplantis presented Warholm with a Sweden jersey for the Diamond League 400-meter hurdles.

“I have to give it to Mondo, he beat me fair and square, so it was a great race,” said 28-year-old Warholm.

“He came out of the starting blocks fast. He was really sharp.”

Both Duplantis and Warholm would have qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with their respective times in the preliminary round of the men’s 100 m race.

Duplantis defended his Olympic title in Paris, setting a world record in the process, before improving his mark again last month with a jump of 6.26m at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia.

Warholm is a world record holder and three-time world champion in the 400-meter hurdles, but was unable to defend his Olympic title from Tokyo 2020 at the last Games and finished second behind American Rai Benjamin.

Duplantis had previously set a personal best of 10.57 seconds at a high school in the US in 2018, while Warholm’s previous record in the 100 m dates back to 2017 when he achieved 10.49 seconds.